From Briefing.com: The broader market closed with all three major US indices shedding more than 2.3%. Leading losses today was the Nasdaq Composite which lost 146.34 points (-3.03%) to 4689.43. The S&P 500 followed, down 47.17 points (-2.37%) to 1943.09, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 392.41 points (-2.32%) to 16514.10. Economic data out today included Initial Claims for the week ending January 2, which decline by 10,000 to 277,000. The prior week's claims level was unrevised. Continuing claims for the week ending December 26 were 2.230 million, an increase of 25,000 from the previous level.
Volatility among US securities was again brought to a head by volatility in Asia. Overnight, futures were heavily impacted by a sharp decline in China's Shanghai Composite (-7.0%) and CSI 300 (-6.9%). The CSI 300 declined 5.0% before trading was halted for 15 minutes and would cede the rest when trading was resumed. The circuit breaker provision was tripped by this secondary decline and trading was concluded 45 minutes after the opening bell. Then, during the session, reports surfaced suggesting a possible 10-15% further devaluation of the Chinese yuan currency.
As the broader market sold off, so did Technology (XLK 40.41, -1.24 -2.98%) as the sector finished near session lows when the bell rang. Component NetApp (NTAP 23.37, -1.32 -5.35%) was particularly weak today as the company announced the departure of the CFO, and a reaffirmation of the Q3 EPS and revenues guidance. Other sectors closed the session XLF -2.81%, XLB -2.72%, XLI -2.71%, IYZ -2.52%, XLE -2.44%, XLY -2.05%, XLV -2.03%, XLP -1.20%, XLU -0.67% with Tech displaying the worst losses, and Utilities showing the most tame of losses.
In light of the volatility in Asia, shares of Chinese Tech (QQQC 21.10, -0.73 -3.32%) companies were pressured today. Those which displayed weakness today included WB -9.98%, BIDU -6.06%, NQ -5.90%, SMI -5.88%, SINA -5.34%.
The S&P 500 Information Technology sector (676.27, -21.93 -3.14%) shed another 20 points today, bringing the YTD losses to more than 45 points (or -6.3%). Component Paychex (PAYX 48.43, -2.35 -4.63%) was notably weaker today as shares were downgraded premarket to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill. Components which also closed down with the broader sector included YHOO -6.22%, ADSK -5.98%, NTAP -5.35%, QCOM -5.14%, MCHP -5.05%, FB -4.90%, FSLR -4.75%, HPQ -4.61%, AKAM -4.54%, AAPL -4.22%, CTXS -4.14%, NVDA -3.96%, XLNX -3.94%.
Other notable news items among sector components:
MobileIron (MOBL 3.83, +0.04 +1.06%) raised its Q4 revenue guidance to $42-$43 million vs. prior guidance of $41-$42 million and named Barry Mainz as CEO.
NetApp (NTAP) announced the departure of the company's CFO. NTAP also reaffirmed Q3 EPS guidance of $0.66-0.71 and revenues in the range of $1.4-1.5 billion.
Facebook (FB 97.92, -5.05 -4.90%) reported 800 million people are using Messenger each month.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Apple (AAPL 96.45, -4.25 -4.22%) acquired artificial intelligence startup Emotient.
Whirlpool (WHR 137.65, -3.51 -2.49%) entered a collaboration with IBM (IBM 132.86, -2.36 -1.75%) to connect Whirlpool connected home appliances with IBM Watson services.
Under Armour (UA 78.00, -1.93 -2.41%) announced a strategic partnership with IBM (IBM) to create and provide data-backed health and fitness insights using Watson's cognitive computing technology.
Accenture (ACN 99.16, -3.00 -2.94%) agreed to acquire Formicary, a provider of consulting and systems integration services for trading platforms in the UK and North America. The acquisition will further strengthen Accenture's capabilities in helping banks, asset managers, hedge funds and clearing organizations transform their trading technology platforms, enabling them to quickly and cost-efficiently adapt to market and regulatory change. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
ACN was awarded a 5-year, $17.9 mln support services contract to create an improved user experience for SEC.gov by the SEC.
Wirecard Singapore Pte, a Wirecard Group company, supports ComfortDelGro Taxis in offering digital payments via MasterPass, a payment service by MasterCard (MA 91.64, -1.71 -1.83%). ComfortDelGro is a Singapore-based multinational land transport company which operates 46,500 vehicles in seven countries and manages the largest taxi fleet in Singapore.
According to a BusinessInsider report, Yahoo! (YHOO 30.16, -2.00 -6.22%) is planning to cut at least 10% of its workforce.
Elsewhere in the technology space:
Avnet (AVT 39.51, -1.00 -2.47%) acquired ExitCertified. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings.
Ctrip.com (CTRP 45.25, -2.64 -5.51%) announced it will invest $180 million in MakeMyTrip (MMYT 20.29, +3.87 +23.57%) via convertible bonds. In addition, MMYT has granted CTRP permission to acquire MMYT shares in the open market, so that combined with shares convertible under the convertible bonds, CTRP may beneficially own up to 26.6% of MMYT's outstanding shares.
Inventergy (INVT 2.10, +0.86 +69.35%) amended its patent purchase agreement. The company reduced liabilities as a result of the amendment by $17.3 million.
NCR Corp (NCR 21.84, -1.22 -5.29%) sold its Interactive Printer Solutions division to Atlas Holdings. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SunEdison (SUNE 3.33, -2.18 -39.56%) priced $725 million of second lien secured term loans and entry into exchange transactions, resulting in a $738 million reduction of debt.
Siliconware Precision (SPIL 7.66, -0.02 -0.26%) announced conclusions and recommendations from its Review Committee over Advanced Semi's (ASX 5.22, -0.16 -2.97%) tender offer. The company concluded the offer by ASX was not reasonable and that the transaction price should be NT$56.33 to NT$68.60 per share versus the standing offer of NT$55 per common share.
SuperCom (SPCB 4.96, -0.12 -2.36%) added one million shares to its repurchase program.
RigNet (RNET17.81, -1.85 -9.41%) named CFO Marty Jimmerson as interim CEO, replacing Mark Slaughter.
2U (TWOU 25.23, -1.15 -4.36%) announced the planned retirement of President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Cohen. The company appointed Jim Shelton as President of the company.
Zix Corp's (ZIXI 4.78, flat) Board approved a $15 million share repurchase program.
Verizon (VZ 45.27, -0.25 -0.55%) and Sony's (SNE 23.27, -0.36 -1.52%) Sony Music agreed to original video content partnership.
Cabot Micro (CCMP 43.18, +0.63 +1.48%) initiated a quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per share and increased its existing share repurchase program by $75 million to $150 million.
Analyst actions:
BAH, CACI, SAIC were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo,
LXK was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Standpoint Research,
ADTN was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at MKM Partners,
EXFO was upgraded to Sector Perform from Sector Underperform at CIBC,
SPMYY was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Liberum;
CAJ was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan,
WBMD was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel,
PAYX was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill,
BRCM was downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Bernstein,
HPQ was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo
4:25 pm : The stock market ended the Thursday affair broadly lower after a volatile start to the trading day. The sharply lower start to the day was brought on by renewed global growth concerns and worries about incoming deflationary pressures. A sharp decline in oil prices underscored these market concerns. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (-3.0%) trailed the S&P 500 (-2.4%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-2.3%).
Global equity markets were focused on action in China, where the CSI 300 Index tumbled 6.9%, ending its day a mere 45 minutes after the opening bell. The index declined 5.0% before prompting a 15 minute halt. This stay was unable to quell selling pressure and once trading was resumed, the index surrendered a further 1.9% before endings its day early, with a loss of 6.9%.
News of this decline worked to temper trading in other regional and international indices, pressuring oil throughout the night. Oil traded under the $34.00/bbl level but rallied into the U.S. open, which fostered a brief rebound in equities; however, stocks tumbled to new lows in the early afternoon after Reuters reported that the People's Bank of China is likely to continue devaluing the yuan by as much as 15.0%. WTI crude would eventually back away from its flat line, sliding lower by 2.1% to $33.27/bbl by the end of its pit session.
On the leaderboard, technology (-3.1%), financials (-2.8%), industrials (-2.8%), materials (-2.7%), and energy (-2.4%) lead the downside while utilities (-0.7%), telecom services (-1.3%), consumer staples (-1.3%), and consumer discretionary (-2.0%) outperformed.
In the industrial sector, the Dow Jones Transportation Average fell 3.0% with all of its components ending in negative territory. Airlines saw some of the steepest losses with United Continental Holdings (UAL 52.63,-2.57) and Delta Airlines (DAL 46.00, -1.93) surrendering 4.7% and 3.8%, respectively. Elsewhere in the index, FedEx (FDX 134.59, -6.18) outpaced the losses, falling 4.4%
In technology, the top-weighted sector was subject to heavy selling in big names and influential components like Apple (AAPL 96.45, -4.25), Microsoft (MSFT 52.17, -1.88), and Facebook (FB 97.92, -5.05). The three stocks ended with losses between 3.2% and 4.9%. Meanwhile, the high-beta chipmakers remained under heavy pressure evidenced by a 2.9% decline in the PHLX Semiconductor Index.
Elsewhere, the economically-sensitive financial sector had a rough outing, as exposure to Chinese currency devaluation and emerging markets holdings pushed the group to the bottom of the leaderboard. JPMorgan Chase (JPM 60.27, -2.54), Bank of America (BAC 15.50, -0.58), and Wells Fargo (WFC 50.40, -1.48) surrendered between 2.9% and 4.0%.
Moving to Treasuries, the benchmark note registered a slim gain after climbing off its intraday low. As a result, the 10-yr yield ticked down two basis points to 2.15%.
Once again, investor participation was above average as 1.1 billion shares changed hands on the floor of the NYSE.
Today's economic data included, Initial claims for the week ending January 2nd which decreased by 10,000 to 277,000. This was above the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 270,000 but within the 250,000 to 300,000 range that has persisted since July 2014. The prior week's claims level was unrevised. Continuing claims for the week ending December 26 were 2.230 million, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level of 2.205 million (from 2.198 million).
Tomorrow, the December nonfarm payrolls report (Briefing.com consensus 200k) will be released at 8:30 ET. While November wholesale inventories (Briefing.com consensus -0.1%) and November consumer credit (Briefing.com consensus $18.50 billion) will be reported at 10:00 ET and 15:00 ET, respectively.
Nasdaq -6.4% YTD
Russell 2000 -6.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -5.2% YTD
S&P 500 -4.9% YTD
DJ30 -392.41 NASDAQ -146.34 SP500 -47.17 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 391/2.147 bln/2649 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 417/1.14 bln/2695
3:40 pm :
Select commodities took a hit today as notable weakness from China hit the markets again today
WTI was the big story today after oil fell below the low seen during the last recession... $33.20/barrel
Feb WTI crude oil fell as low as $32.10/barrel,but closed out the day -2% at $33.29/barrel
Natural gas got a real boost today from the weekly EIA storage data, which showed a larger-than-expected draw
Feb nat gas ended today's session +5% at $2.38/MMBtu
Precious metals climbed nicely higher today
Feb gold rose +16% to $1107.90/oz, while Mar silver gained $0.36 to $14.34/oz
ATML (8.04 -6.18%): Bloomberg reported that Microchip (MCHP) is reconsidering its interest in Atmel amid their continued business struggles
7:18 am Siliconware Precision announces conclusions and recommendations from its Review Committee over Advanced Semi's (ASX) tender offer (SPIL) :
ASE proposed to offer NT$55 per common share in cash to acquire the Company's common shares, with a maximum number of 770,000,000 shares and a minimum number of 155,818,056 shares is not reasonable.
Independent expert CPA Wei-Lin Chen of Dingshuo accounting firm has produced a reasonability opinion determining that the reasonable transaction price range should be NT$56.33 to NT$68.60 per share.
Additionally, CPA Samuel Lu of Diwan & Company accounting firm has produced a reasonability opinion determining that the reasonable transaction price range should be NT$58.32 to NT$63.44 per share.
ASE's tender offer price of NT$55 per share while the price offered by Company's private placement subscriber is also NT$55 per share.
Comparing the control rights and liquidity of the two cases, ASE should pay a higher price premium, and thus should reasonably offer a higher price.
Global Anti-Trust filing doubts:
Filing completeness.
Without obtaining approval, there is risk that the shares sold cannot be delivered
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